Dr. Dwain Allan is a psychological scientist and lecturer who explores the psychology of achievement and success—how we can change, direct, and harness the power of the human mind to unlock greater potential, perform at our best, and achieve success against the backdrop of unrelenting change and the ever-morphing social technology landscape in which we find ourselves.
Correspondingly, he has two main interests in AI. First, he is interested in how newly emerging real-time AI systems (think ChatGPT and Claude), available today—and however they might evolve tomorrow—can manipulate and exploit human psychology. Whether through misdirection, dynamic dark patterns, targeted influence, a never-ending sequence of diversions, or simply harvesting our attention in unprecedented ways, these AI agents have the potential to change minds, shift preferences, and derail us from performing at our best and achieving what we want in life.
Second, he is interested in how these technologies can be successfully and responsibly tamed, redirected, and ultimately used to empower individuals to achieve the results they desire more easily, and improve overall well-being.
Dr. Allan holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and has also trained in Human Interface Technology at the doctoral level. Furthermore, he sits on advisory committees and, most relevantly, serves as the Tangata Whenua representative on the board for the Artificial Intelligence Researchers Association (AIRA).
In addition to his academic appointments, Dr. Allan works as a founder, investor, and advisor across a range of industry verticals. Consequently, he has a special interest in connecting science with society—producing knowledge that is both theoretically important and practically useful.